Woman&#39;s bathing suit



Oct ZS, 1958 G. c. FINN WOMAN'S BATHING sun Filed March 1, 1954INVENTOR.

GER/7L0 C. F/N/V ATTORNEY United States Patent-dice This inventionrelates to womens bathing suits and is directed particularly. toconstructions which are more readily put on, taken off, and unloosenedthan those of the prior art.

Practically all womens bathing suits, whether they have shoulder strapsor not, are difficult to put on and take off. The wearer must in anyevent put her-feet through the leg openings and draw the suit upwardinto place. Since most suits are tight fitting and may be made ofelastic material, the very operation of putting the suit on isfrequently difficult. Thereafter, in the event the wearer wishes to goto the toilet, the suit must be stripped off completely or at leastlowered below the knees, and finally must be put back on again, withadded difliculty and discomfort if the suit is wet and cold.

In accordance with the present invention these objecitons anddifficulties of the prior art are overcome and constructions providedwhich render it much easier to put a bathing suit on or take it off andfurther permit release of the suit for toilet purposes withoutcomplete'removal thereof.

These advantages are attained by providingthe suit with a releasablecrotch piece which, however, may be conventional in form and efiectivelyconcealed when the bathing suit is worn.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a new type ofwomens bathing suit which is more readily put on and taken oif. a

Patented Oct. 28, 1958 2 i v I end of the crotch pieceto conceal thesame and present an attractive feminine appearance. The upper portion ofthe suit maybe strapless or have a halter 10 or other shoulder'stylingas desired. The material of which the suit is made can, of course, beany of those heretofore,

usedso that the present invention is adapted for use with substantiallyany type, style or make of womans bathing, suit without material changein the body or skirt portion thereof. 7 s

g The crotch piece 6 of the present invention is connected in anyconventional manner to the rear of the suit as by means of the stitching12. Further, as shown, it may be formed of two lateral pieces 14 and 16joined along a central seam to aflord maximum comfort and flexibilitywith, attendant strength. The forward end portion 18 of the crotch pieceis enlarged and connected to the pieces 14 and 16 by stitching 20 orotherwise. The free edge of the por-, tion 18 is provided withdetachable fastening means 22 which are shown as consisting of slidefastener elements,

but may consist of button holes, snaps, hooks or other suitable means.

Most womens bathing suits have a restraining or supporting band orgirdle insert which extends across the lower portion of the front 2 ofthe suit as shown at 24 inv Fig. 5. In accordance with the presentinvention fastening means, such as complementary slide fastenerelements'26, or buttons,snaps,' eyes or the like are located on the inner side ofthe front portion of the suit or adjacent theloweredge ofthe band 24 tocooperate with the fastener .e'lementsszzvfor releasably securing thecrotch piece in place. If the tape stitching may serve to attachtheskirt portion 8 tothe front portion 2 of the body or may otherwise beconcealed in the decoration and dress vof the garment.

,A further object of the invention is to provide a bathing su i t nvithmeans permitting the wearer. to use a toilet without removal' of thesuit.

A specific object of the invention is to provide a womans bathing suitwith a crotch piece which is releasably held in place and effectivelyconcealed when the suit is worn. I;-'I"hcse and other objects andfeatures of thepresent in vention will appear fromthe followingdescription thereoftwherein reference is made to the figures of theaccompanying drawing.

In the drawing: Fig. 1 is a perspective illustrating a typical womansbathing suit embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2' i838. front view of the construction of Fig. 1 showing thereleasable crotch piece;

, Fig. 3 is a front view of the bathing suit shown in Fig. 1 with thecrotch pieceopen;

Fig. 4 is a rear'view of the bathing suit of Fig. l with the crotchpiece open; and' "Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional view througha portion of the bathing suit of Fig. 1.

' Inthat form of the invention" chosen for purposes'of illustration inthe drawing, the bathing suit has a front portion 2 and a rear portion4. Connected to the lower portions of the front and rear of the suit isa crotch piece 6 which when secured in place serves to provide the usualleg openings on opposite sidesthereof.

The style of the suit may, of course, be varied greatly but the lowerportion of the front 2 of the suit preferably has a skirt portion 8which extends below the front j In order to afford comfort andprotection for the. wearer, a cover flap 32 is provided on the interiorof the fastener elements and preferably is carriedby the band 1 24 soastoextenddownward over the slide fastener and beyond the upper orreleasableedge of the portion 18 of,

the crotchpiece. In this'way a smooth protecting surface is interposedbetween the wearers body and the connection of the crotch piece with thefront'of the suit. The

cover flap 32 may be securedin place by the stitching: 30

or. by separate oradditionalstitching as desired. The

entire inner surface of the crotch piece may, of course, be

provided with the usualinner lining of jersey material or the likeiforcomfort and protection against chafing or wear of the elastic or otherfabric used in forming the piece.

[The skirt portion'8 which 'extends across the front of the. suit at thelower edge thereof, extends well below thefreleasable, connecting meansor slide fastener, but

may be raised as shown in Fig. 2 in orderto provide access thereto.;However-, the skirt portion and the forward end portion18 of the crotchpiece are preferably provided with releasable attachingmeans such assnap fasteners which serve to hold the skirt portion down purpose snapsor fasteners 34 are attached to the inner surface of the skirt portionSand complementary snaps 1 or fasteners 36 are secured on the exteriorof the forward end portion 18 of the crotch'piece.

The construction thus provided is capable of being easily put on andtaken oif. It may he slipped on over the head like a dress or slip,particularly if the upper. body portion is provided with a slidefastener or other u 28 or-other support for thev fastening elements 26.on thefront of the suit is stitched as shown at 30 to the band 24, itsexistence and location will be completely concealed. However, ifdesired, such.

' the and p means such as that shown at -38. However, if preferred, theuser may step into the suit in the conventional manner either before orafter the crotchpiece ha n secnrea aspiaea ora inarny, the detail {pieceis r'e'le ed Efef the su'i'tis pin it s their lifoifght ge fasteneris'nised a eon'ipl'et'ely separable type of slide is used and it maysimply 'be drawn across the wearers abdenren the wearers hotly beingprotected by the inner cover nap 32'; Thereafter the portion 8" islowered and-the snaps 33' "and 36 employed, ma be" snapped together topresent -a neat, attractive and iition'al appearing suit.

itis only necessary to "raise "the -"skirt pb'r'tion '8, disconnectingfli a'ps 3 1 and 36, if arsed, and to release 24 est bf thesuit bydisengaging the separable connecting elements 22 and .24. The suititself need not be removed or disarranged and, of course, thecrotchpiece can be readily restored "in place without the discontenthere ofore encountered-and even though the itself shouldbewet.

In a aagnpan release of 'the .crot'c h piece, the snit can easilyremoved over thehead or by ste ping ont 'of the suit in the usualmanner.

The. 'constr iietion provided in accordance with the.

present invention "is capable of application to hathin'g suitsofexisting design and requires only a very limited on in "constructionandmanufacturing procedure. the c'rotch piece of the presentinvention'fiiay he produced a'n'dsold byitself for use in existingbathing suits' as a replacement item to be applied by the wearersthemselvesz- V 7 While the construction shown in the drawings anddescribed "above is particularly simple and economical to pro'di'ice andapply, it will be apparent that numerous changes in the form,Construction and arrangement of the elements of the combination may bemade. In view thereof, itshou'ld be understood that the embodimentchosen for this purpose'is intended to be illustrative only and s notintended to limit the scope'of the invention.

claim:

" A wemans bathing suit including 'a tubular body o' pen at-hotih iipper"and lower ends so as to permit the shit to slipped on over the head ofthe wearer, isaid b'oly'ineludin a front portion and a rear portionunited,

td'fofrn "a circu'inferential assembly defining map er were until theforward near shone wish m go to the toilet,

1-8 of the crotch piece from the *band suit to he slipped on over theheadand comprising '-'a1;' front portionproviiled at its lower endE itha simulating partand a back portion united with the jfront I per-tion soas to provide a circumferential assembl Yd: crotch piece extendingdownward from the back-portion and having a relatively narrow crotchcoveringfarea located behind the skirt simulating part and above thelower edge thereof, a'n elongat'ed abdominarba d egp tendingtransverselyof the front portion andfrorh' d-z jacent the waistline downwardly, saidbandbeingiseg cared along its ends to the front *portion on theinteribrylinst' co'vering sec-tion and a lower torso covering sec 7 tion, theupper terminal edge of the bust covering "section being adapted toextend across the chest and "beneath the arms, a crotch memberpermanently secured at its "rear end to 'the lower part of the torsocovering section of the rear portion, complementary detachable securingmeans on the crotch member and from portion for re lea'sably attachingthe free forward end of the" crotch member to the inner face of thefront portion above the lower edge thereof in position to be concealedby the lower torso covering section of the front ortion wherehy saidcrotch member. may constitute a erotchcovering'part defining legopenings, and

detachable'securing means on the crotch memher vertically spaced fromthe first mentioned securing. means and on said lower torso coveringsection adjacent the lower edge of the front portion for releasablyholding the torso covering section of the front portion 1 ,in crotchconcealing position.

2. A womans bathing suit as defined in claim 1 wherer in the crotchmember has a relatively narrow crotch covering area and a relativelybroad front terminal area presenting a transversely extending edge,along whichw edge the first mentioned detachable securing means arelocated. p f p v 3. A womans bathing suit as defined in'elai in lwhereinsaid crotch member is generally -'-l'-shaped in construction to providea relatively narrow crotch covering area and a relatively broadtransverse terminal area presenting a transversely extending edge alongwhich the first mentioned detachable securing means are 10- cated, theouter corners of 'the' broad terminal area --of.

the crotch member having the auxiliary *d'etaohahle 88- curing meansthereon at points spaced from the -trans-i versely extending edge of thecrotch member. 7 4. 'A womans bathing suit as defined 'inclaim 1 whereinthe front portion of the suit is provided Witha1 v transverselyextending's'upporting band located on interior "of the front portionabove the lower edge of the torso covering section and which carries thecomplementary detachable "securing means of the front *p'ortion forengagement with '-'the detachable securing fme'ans" I on the crotchEmernber.

5.- Awcimans bathing suit including a tubular body open at both upperand lower ends so 'as 'to permit the and a Wider free end withdetachable connectingnieans thereon, adjacent and generally parallel ftosaid wider free end, "the crotch piece being of suflici ent "lengthtobent awn forward and upward between a wearer to .a Wearingposition inwhich saidwider free thereof and having a substantiallystraight-lowerfeclge whieh i s at least as lfo'ngas "the edge of thewid'e'ritree end i df' the crotch piece and located V" above-the' loweriedge "of the skirt simulating p'a'rtfand complementary detachableconnecting means carried by and'docatedadf; V jac'e-nt said newer edgeof said supporting "hand ior" releasable engagement 'with the connectingmeanson" the wider free end of the crotch piece to hold 'the crot'c'hpiece in said wearing position with the connee'ting means,

- concealed by said skirt simulating p'art,

References Citedin the fiIe'Of' thiSL atent

